Spiritual Control

On my laptop computer, there are 2 keys abbreviated “CTRL” which stand for control. I have used these keys multiple times but never seem to be in total control of my computer???

I used to be afraid to fly! You probably would never see me parachute out of a perfectly good plane or tie rubber bands to my feet and jump off a bridge. When I went long distances in a car, I needed to drive. You probably can see where I am going with this, control issues!!! All of these fears have to do with control and not being in it.

My inside job for this week, is “Letting Go and Letting God” have the controls.

Now, I’m not the best at analogies… so bear with me. When I first got saved, many moons ago, I spiritually was riding a Big Wheel. I know I’m showing my age with that reference but stick with me on this. The Big Wheel has one big wheel up front with pedals and two little wheels in back. If you get going fast enough, you can do all kinds of tricks with it. Now these wheels are made of plastic. After doing a lot of spinning, sliding and braking, they have a tendency of wearing out.

Spiritually, as a babe in Christ, this described me to a ‘T’! The plastic wheels resembling how frail I was in my faith. My excitement for God spun me and slid me through my stand, sometimes uncontrollable. This slowly wore down my trust in God because my wheels were made of plastic. Eventually, my big wheel became unusable. I either needed to buy another big wheel or grow into another vehicle.

My faith did take the next step, well, I took a giant step. I spiritually purchased a 100 speed bicycle with all the gadgets and gizmos that came along with it. It was definitely a leap of faith; I wasn’t really ready for the bicycle… at least without some training wheels.

What I didn’t realize is that this bike I bought was a tandem bike. I was steering and pedaling and in back Jesus was just pedaling. I attempted to take the shortest distance between 2 points on my bicycle built for two. I was in control and Jesus provided the power and inspiration. Sounds pretty good doesn’t it? Nope.

Once again though, I was destined for disappointment. I was steering were I wanted to. Not observing the traffic signs (Not listening to wisdom); Not planning my route (Not praying everyday); Not doing required maintenance on the bike (Not reading the bible); Of course, this resulted in a couple flat tires and the chain kept falling off.

I was out of control!!! Until I let go and let God, that is. Now, Jesus is at the front of my tandem bike steering and pedaling… I get the easy job for once. I just pedal!!!
So, now as I go through life, I keep my eye on Jesus and following him wherever he goes. When I get a little down, tired or self satisfying???

Jesus turns to me and says, “Paul!… keep pedaling!!!”

Spiritual Control

I ran in search of ungodly things;I thought I was in control.
I had no need for what God brings;I wasn’t in touch with my soul.

“I’m always to busy” to myself I said,I was lacking something so deep inside.The mind is confused, my heart dead,Till I turned to God and letting love abide.

God revealed his plan for me and you:Saying Give your life to Me, just let go.
Pray always, study, read the Bible through,His blessings are more than we may know.

So simple, and it will bring me his peace,Living life for God the way I should.Direction, purpose, fullness and releaseLife with God will always be good.

Listening: Spiritual Discipline

My inside job question is, am I listening effectively to God? Since God is a person, who desires intimacy with those who he calls his friends, is it possible God talks to us?

Yes!!!

God wants us to listen to his voice - he created us for that very purpose. God is not human so we would expect that listening to God might be a bit different from listening to another person. Yet we are also spiritual beings, made in the image of God, and created for communion, and therefore communication, with him. God has built numerous ways into the creation by which we hear him speak.
There are a number of effective ways for people to develop their spiritual hearing and discernment. Human imagination is not only intended for us to make things up but a way for God to work within us, creatively. The human memory not only recalls information from our past, but it is crucial to our ability to imagine the future.
As Christians, it pretty much goes without saying that we love God and want to obey Him. The issue for many of us Christians is similar to the issues we all face today. God speaks, but often people do not listen. I know that as a parent, there many times when I am irritated with my son because I have asked him to do something, and then upon finding out that the task didn’t get done, he’d claim, well, “you never told me to do that.” What’s even more frustrating is when I remember, distinctly, telling them, to do that chore. I spoke; he heard me, but he didn’t listen.
God speaks, but that we sometimes do not listen. So let me ask you, when is the last time God spoke to you? Does He speak to you? And if so, do you hear him? Are you listening to Him?
What are the ways we as Christians can learn to listen to, and obey God? God wants us to do more than simply hear Him; He wants us to listen, and in listening, we have God on our side as we resist evil, and, moreover, turn our lives in the direction of God. So listening to God is far more than hearing. But hearing is the starting point of where we receive God’s word. In His love for us, he has given us many ways to hear His message and to listen to it; these ways are gifts from God or spiritual disciplines.
These spiritual disciplines are practices—they are putting into practice what we have learned. The Bible itself lists many of the spiritual disciplines that God has given us, as tools in growing closer to Him. One of the most important spiritual disciplines is God’s Holy Word. The Bible unfolds the Law of God to us and shows us how we have all broken it.
When we hear and listen to the written Word of God, we are literally hearing and listening to our own salvation.
Romans 10:17,
“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”
We learn the ways and will of the Lord; we find how to live in a way that is pleasing to God in hearing God’s Word.
Luke 11:28,
“Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
So the Bible is our first line of communication with God. We can study it, we can memorize it, we can read it as part of our daily devotion. These are all spiritual disciplines related to God’s Word.
“The largest radio receive on earth is in New Mexico. Its name is the Very Large Array, also know as the VLA. It is a series of huge satellite disks on thirty-eight miles of railways. Why is such a giant satellite needed? Because the radio waves, often emitted from sources millions of light years away, are very faint. The total energy of all radio waves ever recorded barely equals the force of a single snowflake hitting the ground. What great lengths people will go to searching for a faint message from space when God has already spoken so clearly through His Son and through His Word.
2 Peter 1:19
“We have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”
God not only has spoken clearly and powerfully to us through Christ and through the Scripture, the Lord also has a V. L. E…
Very Large Ear continuously open to hearing us. God hears every prayer of His children, even when our prayers are weaker than a snowflake. Communication by prayer is second only to the God’s Holy Word in importance. Not only does God want to hear our prayer, but He expects us to pray to Him.
God commands us to pray.
Colossians 4:2 the
“devote yourselves to prayer.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17,
“be joyful always; pray continuously; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Martin Luther said, “As it is the business of tailors to make clothes and of cobblers to mend shoes, so it is the business of Christians to pray.”

Matthew 4:10
“As it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Psalm 95:6
“let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.”
Worshiping, together with the first two spiritual disciplines, works together in our spiritual life. In worship, we focus our attention on God. True worship of God is more than going to Church on Sunday though.
Matthew 15:8,
“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”
True worship of God happens when we put God first in our lives; matters more than what others say; and when loving God, matters more than being loved. The heart of worship is to seek to know and love God in our own unique way.
There are many Spiritual Disciplines and we need to focus our lives on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Spiritual Disciplines that God has given us open us up to Him.
Here’s how I remember it:
W = worshiping God
O = opening myself to God
R = relinquishing the false self and idols of my heart
S = sharing my life with others
H = hearing the Word of God
I = incarnate Christ’s love for the world
P = pray to God.
This helps me to hear God.
God Bless!!!